The greatest concern for people leaving their domesticated animals, such as a dog or cat, outside is unquestionably theft. On occasion, people also need to leave their animals alone in a car for a period of time. On a hot day this is dangerous as the inside of a car can rise to deadly temperatures, but leaving the windows open risks theft of the animal.
A standard lead provides no way to secure an animal from theft. Attempts to address this problem include leads which incorporate a lock to secure the collar to the pet, a lock to secure the collar to the leash and an additional lock to secure the handle to an immovable object. Other attempts to secure an animal from theft have required the lead to be removed so that the leash can be looped around an object before being reattached and locked. For example, some leads require the user to ‘unhook’ from the dog to put the length of leash around a fence before feeding it back through the locking mechanism.
This is both dangerous and impractical. These solutions are problematic. A locking lead that needs to be removed from the pet endangers the pet and bystanders.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,094 to Phillips, Aug. 1, 2000 depicts a leash requiring two locking points and a separate collar.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,777 to Prusia, Aug. 7, 2001 describes a leash that is designed to be locked so that the dog cannot remove it. It is not designed to lock to an object or secure the pet from theft.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2009/0255484 A1, Muelken, Oct. 15, 2009, incorporates three different locking points and three different locks to handle the collar, the leash and the secure object. This is not a practical solution for the average person doing errands.